Obamateurism of the Day

posted at 8:05 am on March 5, 2012 by Ed Morrissey

Barack Obama spoke at AIPAC yesterday to defend his handling of the Israeli partnership and buff up his standing on getting tough with Iran. He insisted that “when the chips are down, I have Israel’s back,” which is open for debate. But when it came to the handling of Iran and the nuclear-weapons program, he told AIPAC that he inherited an effort “in tatters” from George W. Bush:

It was after this that Obama moved on to the topic over which the president is expected to clash with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — Monday night’s gala speaker here — over these few days: Iran.

“Four years ago, I made a commitment to the American people, and said that we would use all elements of American power to pressure Iran and prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Obama said. “That is what we have done.”

He claimed that when he took office, the George W. Bush administration had left “the efforts to apply pressure on Iran …in tatters.”

” And so from my first months in office, we put forward a very clear choice to the Iranian regime: a path that would allow them to rejoin the community of nations if they meet their international obligations, or a path that leads to an escalating series of consequences if they don’t,” Obama said. “Our policy of engagement – quickly rebuffed by the Iranian regime – allowed us to rally the international community as never before; to expose Iran’s intransigence; and to apply pressure that goes far beyond anything that the United States could do on our own.”

That sounds very much like the same policy that Bush employed, and had been succeeding to some extent despite loud opposition from the Left for “warmongering.” In fact, Bush had been successful at getting the West to push for new sanctions until the US intel community published a national intelligence estimate (NIE) in 2007 that stated that Iran had likely given up pursuit of a nuclear weapon in 2003. That NIE, which was later proven false and blasted by other Western intelligence agencies, cut the political support in the US for pushing harder on sanctions and building a case for further action.

And what did Obama have to say about that 2007 NIE as Senator? Did he refute it and insist on a hardline approach? Not exactly (via RightPundits):

“By reporting that Iran halted its nuclear weapon development program four years ago because of international pressure, the new National Intelligence Estimate makes a compelling case for less saber-rattling and more direct diplomacy. The juxtaposition of this NIE with the president’s suggestion of World War III serves as an important reminder of what we learned with the 2002 National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq: members of Congress must carefully read the intelligence before giving the President any justification to use military force. …

“I think Iran continues to be a threat to some of its neighbors in the region. … But it is absolutely clear that this administration and President Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology. “

What about Joe Biden? Here’s what the Veep had to say at the time:

“What we learned yesterday from the N.I.E. and what President Bush has said in the past I find extremely troubling. Here in October, President Bush raised the specter of World War III with Iran because, as he said, its pursuit of a nuclear weapon — months after he’d been told by our intelligence community it’s likely that Iran had halted its weapons program as far back as 2003.

“And after all we’ve been through, for this president to knowingly disregard or once again misrepresent intelligence about the issue of war and peace, I find it outrageous. This is exactly what he did — exactly what he did in the run-up to the war in Iraq in consistently exaggerating the intelligence that he had available to him, suggesting that Iraq had W.M.D.; the vice president saying Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program; and so on…

“It further undermines America’s credibility around the world, which is at an all-time low, and it undermines the credibility here at home.”

If Bush’s policy was in tatters, it’s in part because the current President and Vice President helped undermine it by politically exploiting an NIE that turned out to be an embarrassing fantasy.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at obamaisms@edmorrissey.com with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

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” And so from my first months in office, we put forward a very clear choice to the Iranian regime: a path that would allow them to rejoin the community of nations if they meet their international obligations, or a path that leads to an escalating series of consequences if they don’t,” Obama said.

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So, why did they choose “don’t” you damn lying POS weasel? Maybe they made you as a closet Muslim, a socialist, and a weakling to boot so they don’t have to worry in the least about you. You also proved them right my never getting involved in the Iranian election protests of 2009 – Neda Agha-Soltan is still unavailable for comment.
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Airball Øbama and Joe “Plugs” Biden wanted to Bush 43 to fail and worked every day he was in office to make it so. They were, as they are now, SCoaMF.
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Start packing, BrØ, U R dunn.

Not to ruin the very concept of a great post concept -but Obmama’s anything but an amateur – read Breitbart’s expose of his commie associations in Chicago as a Senator and you see why we need to be calling the left what it is-communists-America’s enemies, nothing less.Make no mistake -these flks are not just misguided liberals

Start with the NYT -Joe Stalin’smouthpiece.
I also have to wonder why the connected in the GOP behave as they do -no attacks -compromise, hate the common man’s tea party, systematically destroy reformers like Palin.

Please -no conspiracy nut comments-conspiracies do happen, read the commie party’s goals and your see they’ve acheived most of them.

O’s got to be one of the luckiest guys in the world. Aside from all the perks of being President of the USA, nothing’s ever his fault.

TimBuk3 on March 5, 2012 at 8:12 AM

Well there are only four Presidents that might, I repeat might, conceivably be more awesome than the O.

Seriously, I don’t think the SOB even sees the hypocrisy of his own actions in the Senate vis-a-vis his current campaign mode where he pretends to respect Israel after three years of bowing and scraping to Muslims and attacking Israel at every possible opportunity.

And the really amazing thing is how many Jews still support the bastard even though he’d be happy if the Jews in Israel were driven into the sea by people who have names similar to our jug-eared “leader.”

The timing of all this is no accident as Benjamin Netanyahu meets Mr. Obama in the White House today amid intense speculation about an imminent Israeli strike on Iran. In an interview with Journal editors on Friday, Eyal Gabbai,

the former director general of the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, said Mr. Netanyahu’s meeting with Mr. Obama “will be the last time they can speak face-to-face before a decision is taken.”
(More….)
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Is there anything left to blame on Bush?Why don’t the so called big media just come out now and say we want to elect Obama and save us the BS?

docflash on March 5, 2012 at 8:26 AM

It is going to be a mighty interesting campaign season if the bastard blames everything on GWB (the electoral equivilent of pleading the fifth). For example, how is it GWB’s fault that Govt. Motors just laid off 1300 workers because their crappy and unsafe Volt isn’t selling? Billions of tax dollars illegally shelled out by Obama to protect the UAW pension funds. And it was all Obama’s doing, he will be held to account for such bad stewardship no matter how much he lies about respecting Israel.

Not to ruin the very concept of a great post concept -but Obmama’s anything but an amateur – [...] blah blah blah

Don L on March 5, 2012 at 8:33 AM

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Hmmmmmm, I see what you mean! However it would have been hard to get progressive, socialistic, statist, liberal, narcissistic, authoritarian, arrogant, self-aggrandizing, Democrat race-hustler mashed up with “Obama.”
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Obama + Amateur = Obamateur + ism = Obamateurism. See?
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Now, before you get all prickly and tell me “Yeah, I get that, Moron!” we have been through this and now accept that the title of the concept is “ironic.” Read up on it. You will laugh.

Why would anyone in Iran, Israel or any other country including our own believe anything Obama says. He’ll throw them under the bus and leave them hanging and will never carry through with any threats to Iran. Israel had better take care of itself because if they dont they will be headed for extinction. Ive even heard liberals express if Israel were gone we would have peace in the mideast. When asked about womens and gay rights in the middle east the answer is we cant interfere with another countries soverenty. You would have to be deaf dumb and blind not to see where this is headed. If Jews want to vote this guy back in then so be it they will have to live with the consequences.

In May 2008 he said “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny, they don’t pose a serious threat to us.”

Sticky Wicket on March 5, 2012 at 8:59 AM

In 2008, we were still a superpower with a foreign policy and respect in the world. Then Obama got elected. He has gone out of his way to insult our closest allies while bowing and scraping to this nation’s enemies. He has shown cowardice in places where force is the only thing that works. He has unilaterally attacked a nation for no reason other than continuing the myth of an “Arab Spring” where appeasing our enemies will ulitimately result in a more democratic Middle East or something.

Whatever you may have thought of GWB’s foreign policy, he had one. Today we’ve got a random set of actions which makes no sense, is undermining our standing in the world, and shows just how little the “smart people” from Chicago know about life away from Lake Michigan.

If Bush’s policy was in tatters, it’s in part because the current President and Vice President helped undermine it by politically exploiting an NIE that turned out to be an embarrassing fantasy.

Yes, but the MSM will just shorten that to “It’s All Bush’s Fault,” as usual. Can’t overwhelm voters with too much information, you know.

They do the same thing with the housing meltdown. It started on Bush’s watch, so it must be Bush’s fault. Never a peep about how Barry Hussein and his buddies like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were for years pushing for expansions of the CRA (and in Obama’s case pre-Senate, actually suing banks under the CRA for failing to give mortgages to poor-credit-risk borrowers); advocating lower and lower standards at FM/FM (while simultaneously screaming “raaaaaacism” anytime somebody tried to do something about the huge accounting frauds that were occurring there under the leadership of Democrats like Franklin Raines); and repeatedly blocking Republican attempts to rein in some of the more blatant abuses at FM/FM.

Dammit! These pesky pronouncements from the past keep bubbling up, interfering with Obama’s current politically expedient positions. He really needs to beef up the staff at the Ministry of Truth, authorize overtime, and get history under control. Facts, and a record to run on, are an impediment to the 5 more years he needs for his fundamental transformation of America, plus free golf on the taxpayers’ dime.

Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific assurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.

That is highly “nuanced”, as Obama can claim that he was merely describing the needs of the Arab and Pakistani Americans with whom he met…but he doesn’t deny that he would indeed “stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction”.

Stand with them. Not Israel. And not Jewish or Christian Americans. He’d stand with Arab and Pakistani Americans.

Wow .. I listened to that 30 min video I’d linked to up thread.
I’d forgotten SOOO much, especially just how many Dems were shocked and denounced the prez.
God help us …. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem .

George Bush had to go to war with a depleted military. The war probably took far longer than it should have because he inherited a military from a Clinton instead of a Reagan. I waited eight years for him to make that point and he never did.

If Bush’s policy was in tatters, it’s in part because the current President and Vice President helped undermine it by politically exploiting an NIE that turned out to be an embarrassing fantasy.

Did they just exploit it, or did they have a hand in creating it?

Let’s face it: the entire left worked very hard to form a united front that would deny Bush any credit for anything at all. And it worked, since they managed to elect the completely unserious Senator Obama as president.

It’s no conspiracy theory to suspect the NIE was completely politically motivated. It is, in fact, the most plausible explanation.